HSF

When the Prime Minister announced to CARICOM earlier this year that the Trinidad and Tobago ATM is now closed, many probably thought it was political rhetoric. Now that she is exercising the Republic’s prerogative by expecting some measure of reciprocity by our CARICOM brothers and sisters in their time of need she is being vilified. Many distanced themselves and have gone as far as to inflame the situation by declaring the policy as colonial.

The Hon. Minister of Finance, Mr Winston Dookeran, has reportedly claimed that no deposits were made into T&T's Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) in 2009/2010.  The ex-Finance Minister, Mrs Karen Nunez-Tesheira, has responded that Mr Dookeran's allegation was wholly inaccurate, and made some other claims regarding the HSF during her tenure as Minister.  Both statements contain inaccuracies.

I wish to deal with four issues arising on the campaign trail this year.

Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF)

The PNM manifesto has highlighted the HSF balance of US$3.2 billion as being one of their major achievements despite the global economic turmoil. However, if you check other official documents, there appears to have been an unexplained lack of deposits for five of the last six quarters. This suggests that the HSF is not as high as it could have been, and raises questions about the approval of the deposit on 01 May 2010.